The fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special", about the passenger train of the same name, was written by Ervin T. Rouse (1917-1981) in 1938. The original recording was created by Ervin and Gordon Rouse in 1939. It is considered the best known fiddle tune of the twentieth century and is often called simply The Special. It has been referred to as "the fiddle player's national anthem".

By the 1950s, it had become a perennial favorite at bluegrass festivals, popular for its rousing energy. For a long time no fiddle player would be hired for a bluegrass band unless he could play it.

"Orange Blossom Special" was the official theme song (1949-1977) for the world famous Texas Cowgirls basketball team (owner sports promoter Dempsey Hovland). The Cowgirls barnstormed playing men's basketball rules against male opponents, winning 80% of their 160 or more games per season. The team was decked out with boleros, western hats, holsters and pistols over their basketball uniforms and entered the courts to the tune of "Orange Blossom Special". Dropping an article of western fashion with each fancy layup pregame setting the crowds on fire.

Johnny Cash named his 1965 album after the song. While bluegrass performers tend to play it as strictly an instrumental, Cash sang the lyrics, and replaced the fiddle parts with two harmonicas. Florida-native Vassar Clements also often played it during his live performances.

Authorship

Other musicians, including Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise, have claimed authorship of the song. As Chubby tells the story, one night, after he and fellow musician Ervin made their usual rounds, they decided to visit the Jacksonville Terminal in Florida and see what the fuss over the Orange Blossom Special train was all about . .

Rouse copyrighted the song in 1938 and recorded it in 1939. Bill Monroe, regarded by many as "the father of bluegrass music," recorded the song (with Art Wooten on fiddle) and made it a hit. Since then countless versions nave been recorded, among them Chubby's own, as an instrumental in a 1969 album, Chubby Wise and His Fiddle. And that version, said Chubby, "is the way it was written and the way it's supposed to be played."

Lyrics

Look a-yonder comin'

Comin' down that railroad track

Hey, look a-yonder comin'

Comin' down that railroad track

It's the Orange Blossom Special

Bringin' my baby back


Well, I'm going down to Florida

And get some sand in my shoes

Or maybe Californy

And get some sand in my shoes

I'll ride that Orange Blossom Special

And lose these New York blues


"Say man, when you going back to Florida?"

"When am I goin' back to Florida? I don't know, don't reckon I ever will."

"Ain't you worried about getting your nourishment in New York?"

"Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die."


Hey talk about a-ramblin'

She's the fastest train on the line

Talk about a-travellin'

She's the fastest train on the line

It's that Orange Blossom Special

Rollin' down the seaboard line

Recordings

• The song was covered by Swedish instrumental rock band The Spotnicks in 1961 and released on their first album, The Spotnicks in London – Out-a-Space!

Video

• Vassar Clements and Del McCoury Band playing the song along with some of the best fiddle players together. Recorded on April 2, 2003 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN.
• Roy Clark performs The Orange Blossom Special 1987 Live
• 9 Year Old Fiddler - Mikayla Roach - Orange Blossom Special
• Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special (San Quentin) San Quentin State Prison 24 February, 1969.
• Orange Blossom Special sung by Redhill Billies, Somerset, UK

References

1. [1]

See also

• Orange Blossom Special

Further reading

External links

• Orange Blossom Special by The Rosinators - lyrics, song history, videos, fiddle tab and sheet music links
• Recording of the "Orange Blossom Special" by Gamble Rogers at the 1982 Florida Folk Festival; made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida.